Markets trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly positive start on Tuesday but soon gained traction despite mixed global cues. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains of around half a percent each on the back of buying in all the sector indices led by Auto, Realty and Consumer discretionary counters. Sentiments got a boost with Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government is committed to improving the ease of doing business and innovation ecosystem where every school student has access to the innovative tools and trends. Traders took note of report that companies raised Rs 73,215 crore from the capital markets in October, with private placement of debt instruments continuing to be the most-preferred route for funding. Meanwhile, on Monday, India reported 27,107 fresh Covid-19 cases. Its case tally now stands at 9,703,908. The country's death toll has mounted to 140,994. With 18,55,341 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 894,004, Andhra Pradesh 872,288, Tamil Nadu 791,552, and Kerala 631,615.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street. Investors remained cautious amid worries about surging coronavirus cases in the US and as they monitor progress in US stimulus negotiations. Investors also digested news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels this week in an effort to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Meanwhile, data showed that Japan's gross domestic product surged an annualized 22.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020.

Back home, farmers across India have called for a Bharat Bandh on December 8. They have been holding protests against agrarian laws passed recently in Parliament. The bandh was called by the protesting farmers after several rounds of talks with the Central government failed. On the sectoral front, banking and financial counters were in focus as the Supreme Court is set to resume hearing in the Interest Waiver/Loan Moratorium case. In scrip specific development, Goa Carbon jumped as its production in November was up 58.8 percent at 14,309.200 MT as against 9,006.000 MT in October.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 45639.60, up by 212.63 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 45459.74 and 45651.30. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.31%, Realty up by 1.14%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.89%, Basic Materials up by 0.73%, Telecom up by 0.65%, while there was no loser on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.67%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.76%, HDFC up by 1.42%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.37% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.25%, Sun Pharma down by 1.13%, Indusind Bank down by 0.66%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.20% and ICICI Bank down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that the government is committed to improving the ease of doing business and innovation ecosystem where every school student has access to the innovative tools and trends. He also said the Indian economy will be among the top economies in the world in the next few years using science, technology, and innovation in all the sectors, bouncing back soon from the after-effects of coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic.

Kumar has stated that steps and reforms have been taken by the government in all the sectors, like agriculture, modern medicine, traditional medicine, New Education Policy, small and medium enterprises, labour sector and so on to target being among the world's top three economies. He also stated that the pandemic has changed many things and shown new ways of doing things and many of these are going to stay in the post-COVID world. He stressed the need to have an innovative economic system in the post-COVID world to remain floating.

Niti Aayog vice chairman further said the economy post-COVID has been in the recovery mode after the first quarter and hoped that it will bounce back in the next few quarters from the effects of COVID-19 disruptions and grow by an average 7-8 percent in the next 20-30 years and become the third-largest economy by 2047.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13417.45, up by 61.70 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 13363.15 and 13420.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.40%, UPL up by 2.11%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.84%, HDFC up by 1.37% and ONGC up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.37%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.29%, Coal India down by 1.02%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.80% and Indusind Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 declined 80.09 points or 0.30% to 26,467.35, Hang Seng plunged 161.89 points or 0.61% to 26,344.96, KOSPI lost 25.11 points or 0.91% to 2,720.33 and Shanghai Composite fell 8.61 points or 0.25% to 3,407.99. On the other hand, Straits Times added 0.05 points to 2,825.56, Taiwan Weighted advanced 63.76 points or 0.45% to 14,320.36 and Jakarta Composite rose 11.72 points or 0.20% to 5,942.48.